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Morty Cassidy (Earth-1)
"There's one way to find out if a man is honest: ask him. If he says yes, you know he's a crook." Mortimer Zachary Cassidy is an NPC in the Extras campaign. He was introduced in Flux (S01E01) and became a central character in Team (S01E02). Morty is a fun-loving, goofy young punk with a good sense of humor. Despite his seemingly care-free demeanor, Morty is fiercely courageous and a staunch Extra, as well as one of its founding members. He is the current boyfriend of Margot Audley. Personality Morty is an affable, carefree and lovable goofball and an all-around cool guy. The most social of the team--both in and out of the mask--Morty often serves as comic relief, offering up jokes, humorous observations and taunts, even in the heat of battle. He always seems to see the glass as half-full, generally being positive and refusing to lose hope in a given situation. Morty is a courageous beyond what he seems, but possesses a self-destructive streak; those who know him best understand that the goofball is generally hiding a very sensitive and jaded person. Generally, Morty is a friendly and laid-back guy with a good sense of humor and fun-loving personality. Thus, he often finds it easy to get along with others, and early in the campaign, Morty was generally know to flit between social groups, belonging to none but well known by all. He considers himself a nonconformist and thus refuses to further classify himself or identify with any particular social niche. While being odd, his quirky, eccentric taste in fashion, music and life--paired with a lack of concern over what his fellow students think of him--Morty rose above being an oddball and became quite popular, and he was especially well-known for his wild parties. He has admitted to loving people and loving life in general, despite how stupid and hateful humans tended to be. He rarely loses his cool, panics or gives in to stress and he is usually one of the few Extras who unthinkingly reacts in tense or dangerous situations. Morty is the kind of guy who likes to have a good time and he doesn't let little things like "legality" or "health concerns" bring him down. He sees life as something to be enjoyed and he is always open to new experiences. He is a chain smoker and semi-regular drinker and he often employs either to help make good times "just that much better". He doesn't listen to the concerns of his friends, even Margot, and this is in part due to his love of freedom and also in part to his self-hatred (see below). Prior to the campaign, Morty consistently became involved with raging parties, was a habitual drinker and often partook of illegal narcotics (particularly marijuana). He's cleaned up a bit since gaining his powers, however, as teleporting drunk is dangerous (as it throws off his spatial awareness) and it is nearly impossible to control while high. Indeed, his prescience is somewhat impeded while high, as well. In order to keep his head, control his power and continually remain a reliable friend to Margot and the other Extras, Morty has given up drugs and drinks only occasionally. He still regularly smokes because, hey, you gotta die of something. At his core, Morty is an individual and he places great importance on that freedom. He dislikes bullies and dictators, and he hates anybody who wants to oppress or impose their will on another. He likes to think that he is in control of his life and of his fate, so the idea of destiny or fate understandably freaks him out. Being told what he "has to do" or "should do" with his life angers and scares him, and in the face of such concepts, he can lose his cool. This was demonstrated in Con, when he and Margot discusses the idea of destiny and soulmates. Morty does not want his life to drift into a direction he doesn't want. and the idea that he has no control over his own fate--like a Stock Car Racer--makes him question what it means to use his gifts for good. Likewise, he is not religious and dislikes the idea of a "Great, Cosmic Asshole" telling him what to do. This is one of the rare instances where Morty has shown a flicker of what lies beneath his grinning, goofball persona. More than anything, Morty loves having fun and to experience as much of life as he possibly can. He is the first to try something new and he is the first to accept a dare, no matter how outrageous. Indeed, this in part made him a perfect candidate for the team in the early days of the campaign: he saw superheroing largely as something fun when he first started and he did it partly for the rush. He loved going up against other super-powered losers or muggers, and he found many clever and fun ways to use his teleporting powers. However, as time has gone on, Morty has started to understand the truth of how dangerous being a superhero is and while he does not show it, Morty knows that he will probably die doing it. Regardless, he carries on because he's seen the bad things and knows that he is one of the few who can really do something to protect people. So, even if he wanted to, Morty could never quit and he considers himself an Extra for Life. But Morty is not just the person that most others, even his friends, perceive him to be. Morty comes from a large, middle class family, but it is far from stable. He is the middle of five children; two twin, older brothers on one side and a younger sister and brother on the other. His family are all modest, God-fearing people with practical, conservative sensibilities. Morty doesn't exactly fit that picture with his long hair, eccentric style and loud, punk personality and he often clashed with his parents and siblings, even the youngest, Eddie. Morty most often got into rows with his mother, who didn't understand why her son was a "useless waste of oxygen" and couldn't "learn to be a normal human being" like his siblings. His mother often verbally abused him, often calling him names or verbally berating him for being useless or stupid. Morty was often blamed for things by his mother that were really the fault of the younger kids. Not that she believed him of course, and before long, the kids realized they could blame stuff on Morty and get away with it, and Morty has resigned himself to that fate. He always knew that his parents treated him differently than the others and before long he grew to genuinely resent his entire family. That being said, he wasn't exactly surprised when they kicked him out of the house upon discovering his abilities. Faithful advocates of FOXNews, his entire family believed him to be a monster, and so Morty was forced to live in his van for several months, until Margot took him in. Morty hates himself. While he thinks his mother is an "evil bitch", he doesn't entirely disbelieve the things she told him. He sees himself as ugly and he knows he's useless and stupid and that he doesn't really believe to be happy. Thus, he took up a life of self-destructive habits and hard partying. After all, his own parents didn't give a shit about him or about his life, so why should he? In truth, gaining super powers has proven to be the single best thing to happen in Morty's life. For the first time, he really feels as if he matters and is making a difference. Slowly, as he continues saving lives and defeating supervillains, Morty is starting to see that maybe he isn't completely useless and his confidence is growing, albeit slowly. He is very good at hiding this side of him because, above all, Morty does not want to be pitied by anyone. Growing up, Morty saw how his father's self-reliance was a point of pride for him. Morty, too, has a hard time accepting help, let alone asking for it. This has been demonstrated a number of times, such as when Margot gave Morty money to help his family through a difficult time or when he made up excuses (like doing his laundry or the late time, for example) in order to keep sleeping at Margot's house while he was homeless. Morty's pride can be a problem, as it can cause him to whether terrible burdens just because he refuses to ask anybody for their help. This applies to the battlefield; Morty continually tries to help everybody that he can and he pays little attention to his own needs and he will never ask Miriam for healing after a fight if anybody else could benefit from it. In the field, Morty primarily acts as a scout or support in a battle. His teleportation grants him unprecedented mobility, allowing him to instantly travel to any vantage point he can see. This also allows him to "jump" around the battlefield as an unpredictable dervish, moving his targets around as he likes and re-arranging the fight as he sees fit. He often relied on his switchblade early on in a fight, but his evolving powers and continuing mastery of them, combined with training received from Maxwell Puckett and continued training with Avery, Shawn and Joe, Morty is becoming a formiddabble opponent in his own right, seemlessly weaving teleportation, quick, precise strikes and grapples into a unique, unpredictable fighting style. All in all, Morty is a generally positive goofball with a love of adventure and excitement. He just hopes to make a difference who one day wants to matter to someone. History Morty was born the third of five children to Dean and Angela Cassidy. Dean works as the foreman of a delivery service while Angela was a ballet dancer for years. She became unable to dance due to her pregnancy with Morty and even after the birth she could never get back into dancing shape. This embittered her somewhat toward her son and, coupled with post-partem depression led to their strained relationship. Growing up, Morty was often picked on by his older brothers and was always being scolded for one thing or another by his mother. His father, meanwhile, remained apathetic due to spending most of his time at work. What time he did spend at home was usually playing football with Jordan and Evan. While Morty was invited to such games, he never partook as he was smaller than the older boys and felt left out anyway. Thus, Morty spent most of his childhood outdoors or at friends houses. He rarely let friends come over and they never spent the night. Morty hated being at home partly because he disliked being around his Mom and brothers. When the two younger kids were born, Morty noticed his parents treated them like the older boys: his dad spent lots of time with them and his mother rarely scolded them, instead blaming their own mistakes or mishaps on Morty. Whenever Morty was invited on any kind of trip it was with the entire family. As he grew older, Morty started finding solace in punk music: there, he could identify with the singer and he related to the music's feelings of anger and neglect. He learned to play instruments, though he had to practice at friend's houses, as his mother couldn't stand hearing him practice (though she had no problem with his siblings practicing their choir work or their own instruments for school in the house). Morty was clearly gifted and learned to play several instruments in a short amount of time. This caused him to be enrolled in Olympia Academy, a charter school with a focus on the arts. When he was fourteen, he founded the band Robert Jones with two friends from the public high school. Throughout high school, Morty spent most of his time around town with friends and he became famous among the town's youth for his "truly epic" parties. Morty also quickly became a go-to guy for nearly anything and he became the kind of guy who, if anybody wanted to know something, Morty could find that information. He remained popular throughout high school, unaware that his popularity would attract the attention of a certain Caleb Blackburn, who would suggest to Morty that he throw a party at a certain, abandoned location on a certain day.... Notable Accomplishments *Fought against Mrs. Tessmacher (Team, S01E02) *Founding member of the Extras (Team, S01E02) *Fought at the Battle of the Leung's Party (Party, S01E05) *Trained with Maxwell Puckett *Fought in the Battle of the Mystic Grill (Wild, S01E08) *Fought Big Brother's Thunderbolts,defeated Magnetic Man and Portal (Brother, ''S01E12)'' *Fought in the Battle of Northampton, directly fought Archnemesis (Heroes, S01E13) *Joined the Hunt for Wildcard (Wildcard, S02E02) *Founding member of A Band (Masks, S02E07) *Attended meeting of Tomorrow's Children undercover (Idols, S02E09) *Fought in the Battle of the Sidekicks, defeated Skipper (Idols, S02E09) *Fought against The Unity (Unity, S02E10) *Attended "Meet the Extras" Panel at Seattle CastleCon (Con, S02E11) *Sacrificed his powers to the Fix to save Margot (Fix; S02E12) *Hit Cronus with a Van (Oblivion; S02E14) *Fought in the Battle of the White House (Oblivion; S02E14) Notable Victories *Magnetic Man (Brother, Part 1; ''S01E12) *Gateway (''Brother, Part 2; ''S01E12) *Archnemsis Assist (''Brother, Part 2; ''S01E12) *Cannonball Assist (''Idol; ''S02E09) *Skipper (''Idol; S02E09) *Malleable Man (Unity; ''S02E10) *Doctor Otaku (''Con; S02E11) *Archnemesis (Oblivion; S02E14) Relationships with Others Morty is good with people, and his cheerful, goofy, fun-loving demeanor usually meshes well with those around him. Margot Audely is Morty's best friend and his girlfriend. More than anybody, she has shown Morty kindness and a she seems to see him as something more than just a goofball. Indeed, Margot was the first person to see Morty as a hero and her friendship has largely been the cause of Morty's continued boost of self-confidence. Morty thinks Margot is probably the coolest person he knows (which is saying something) and he is fiercely loyal to her. She is his leader and his friend, and he would do anything for her. He finds Margot cool, courageous, quirky, eccentric and groovy and he finds a kindred spirit in her, as they have many similar experiences and challenges. Morty developed a crush on Margot early on that has, over time, grown into real love. He finds it hard to talk when she's around and when she smiles, it takes his breath away. She's the definition of perfection for him and he would do absolutely anything for her. Because of Margot, Morty has a sort of self-confidence that he's never had before. She inspires him--not just as a hero, but as a person. She inspires beauty in the world and she inspires Morty to become more than he thought he could be. This is, in large, because she is the first person who believes him to be a hero. He can't think rationally when she's around and will often risk his life in a knee-jerk reaction to protect her. This has been demonstrated several times, such as when he sacrificed his power for her and subsequently rammed his van into Cronus or attended the Battle of the White House; or when he teleported himself and Archnemsis into a situation that would have killed him or when he took a syringe of concentrated Fear Pheromone to protect her from Deimos. This has gone farther, as well, as he has quit smoking because of her and got a haircut not only to impress her but because he wanted to look nicer overall, a sign of his growing self-confidence thanks to her. While it's true that he does not feel like he deserves her, and he had no intention of telling her about his feelings, things have changed since learning Margot returned feelings for him. Since becoming her boyfriend, he's on cloud nine; on top of the world! He's never been so happy and content in his entire life. He wants nothing more than to have fun with Margot and to make her happy, and he wants to be the best boyfriend he can be. She is his first real girlfriend, so he's somewhat nervous about whether or not he can be what she deserves, but he's damn well going to try. After all, she fell in love with him, right? He must be doing something right. Morty finds Joe Fordman cool, in a classic movie star, Humphrey Bogart kind of way. He sees Joe as everything he isn't: handsome, smart, cool, funny and athletic. He loves hanging out with Joe, although he does find himself more than a little jealous of the young man: he's Batman, he's a better musician AND he gets the girl. Despite this, he harbors no ill-will or hard feelings and in fact hopes the best for Joe. He sees him as a friend and Morty genuinely trusts him. Avery is Morty's other best friend. While they didn't talk much (read: ever) before the Flux, Morty and Avery have since began a strange friendship. Morty acts as the comedic foil to Avery's often stoic personality, and Morty has served as a willing listener when Avery needs another dude to vent to. He knows Avery would do the same if Morty ever sucked up his pride and talked to him. Morty was one of the first people to go patrolling with Avery, and the two trust one another implicitly. Morty finds Avery surprisingly funny and the two often hang out outside of superheroing. Shawn is Morty's other best friend, and the two often hang out. They usually work on projects, such as fixing cars or building something. They also bond through music, such as when they are playing in A Band. Morty and Shawn are good buddies and Morty finds Shawn a brave, responsible and honorable guy. Morty respects Shawn as both a hero and as a man. Rick Bythesea is another student at Olympia Academy and a fellow Extra. He found Rick a pretty cool guy and after they all got powers, Morty thought Rick might be one of his closest friends. Since he and Margot broke up, however, Morty finds that he can't stand Rick and has definitely taken Margot's side in the break up. Morty was once close with Ezra Peets as they both frequented the local party circuit. Morty respected Ezra's capacity for drinking and Ezra appreciated Morty's lack of inhibitions and ability to procure whatever the party needed. The two often joined in smoking with each other both at parties and otherwise. Since joining the team, the two got along but rarely hung out. Since Ezra left for The Carnival, Morty has largely written him off. Simply put, Morty hates Caleb Blackburn and he hopes the "weird little weasel chokes to death on a bag of dicks". Morty doesn't hold feelings one way or the other for Clay. He thinks he's a cool dude and surprisingly funny but the age gap has softened what friendship they could have. Powers and Abilities Morty lost his powers to The Fix in Fix (S02E12) when he sacrificed them to save Margot. However, before this he possessed two potent superhuman abilities, in addition to mundane training: *'Acrobatics:' Morty has been training in gymnastics and acrobatics. He is also becoming skilled at the art of parkour, a style of movement he is learning from Joe Fordman. Morty's prescience and natural agility have helped to make him a prodigy. *'Hand-to-Hand Combat:' Morty has received basic training in the Royal British Marines Martial Arts, along with Margot and Avery. Morty is surprisingly adept at the style and is good at blocks and throws, excelling at reversing momentum of larger opponents. *'Knife Fighting:' Morty possess a certain degree of knife combat. He knows how to wield a knife but he claims to be self-taught. Joe has taught him how to throw a knife, as well. He relied on his knife heavily in his early days but seems to use it less and less the more experienced he becomes with his powers. *'Limited Probability Manipulation:' Morty has a minor, teritiary ability to exert a modicum of control over probability, although it is not true Probability Manipulation and it has severe limitations. With it, he is able to control the outcome of one small event, such as a coin toss or a single dice roll. He does this by exerting his extra-dimensional connections until he finds a branch of reality in which the result is what he desires and then unconsciously draws that into our world. This ability is not unlimited, either, as he can only perform this "trick" a few times a day. He plans to use this power in Las Vegas the minute he turns 21. *'Musician:' Morty is a brilliant musician and has been classified as a "virtuoso". He would have been a candidate for the Empire State Arts Music Scholarship offered by his school, but he did not excel at any of the instruments that would have qualified him for the scholarship. *'People Skills:' Morty is not trained in negotiations or diplomacy, but he is a natural at talking to people and is, by his nature, very likable. *'Prescience:' Morty possesses an extrasensory "danger sense" that warns him of potential or immediate danger by the manifestation of a tingling sensation in the back of his skull. Thanks to a link with his own superhuman kinesthetics, he can evade most injuries unless he cognitively overrides his automatic reflexes. The precise nature of this sense is unknown. It appears to be a simultaneous clairvoyant response to a wide variety of phenomena (everything from slipper surfaces, to speeding bullets, to thrown punches) that gives several hundredths of a second warning, which is sufficient time for his reflexes to allow him to avoid injury. The sense also can create a general response on the order of several minutes: he cannot discern the nature of the threat by the sensation. He can, however, discern the severity of the danger by the strength of his response to it. Morty's prescience is directional and can guide him to or away from hidden weapons and enemies. Sudden and extreme threats can cause his prescience to react with painful intensity. Morty can also sense and dodge attacks directed randomly or by an artificial intelligence. Using his prescience to time his enhanced reflexes, Morty can casually dodge attacks up to and including automatic-weapons fire, provided there is sufficient distance. His presience is sufficiently linked to his reflexes to the point that a threat can trigger them even when Morty is asleep or stunned. He can choose to ignore his prescience, and distraction or fatigue diminish its effectiveness. Morty's fighting style incorporates the advantage that his prescience provides him. His body begins to produce more adrenaline after the sense is triggered, an extension of the 'fight or flight syndrome'. He can also use his prescience to determine when a teleporter is about to surprise attack him and he can use it pinpoint where another teleporter's destination is to be. *'Subconscious Spatial Awareness:' Morty has a very limited subconscious extrasensory ability that prevents him from teleporting himself so that his feet, for example, would materialize below the surface of the local ground. Because this ability is so limited, however, Morty cannot teleport into any place that he cannot see. If Morty teleported himself into an unfamiliar area, he would run the risk of materializing partially or entirely within a solid object. If too much of his body materialized within a solid object, he would be killed. *'Teleportation:' Morty has the ability to teleport himself, the clothes he is wearing, and (within limits) a certain amount of additional mass which is in contact with him. He teleports by displacing himself into an adjacent pocket dimension, traveling through it, and then returning to his own dimension at a certain distance from his point of departure. He consciously determines his point of return. The entire process occurs so quickly that Morty is unaware of being in the pocket dimension at all. Morty guides himself through the dimension by an unconscious, natural direction-finding sense. Although he controls his teleportation ability with his conscious mind, his power to teleport is not psionic. Rather it is the result of an unknown biochemical/biophysical reaction which he triggers mentally. When he disappears in teleporting, Morty leaves behind smoke with a stench reminiscent of burning brimstone. This is a small portion of the atmosphere of the pocket dimension that escapes while the aperture is open. His teleportation is invariably accompanied by the muffled sound of imploding air rushing to fill the vacuum left where Morty's body was, with a loud bang. Morty's powers automatically displace liquids and gases when he arrives in the course of a teleportation. The longer the distance over which Morty teleports himself, the harder and more exhausting it is for him to make the teleportation "jump". It is easier for him to teleport between north and south (along Earth's magnetic field lines) than it is for him to teleport between east and west (against the magnetic lines). While he once was only able to teleport within a short distance (only a few hundred feet), Morty can now teleport to any spot he can see, though there are limits. Under optimal conditions, teleporting only himself and his costume, Morty can displace himself a distance of about 2 miles east-to-west, and up to 3 miles north-to-south. Making a vertical teleportation upwards is difficult and dangerous, though so long as its only a hundred feet or so he can make the jump easily. He can teleport rapidly, but doing so exhausts him and can be potentially lethal if he continues "jumping" without resting. Morty's momentum is retained throughout the process of teleportation: he arrives with whatever amount of inertia he left with. For example, if he were falling from a great height, he could not teleport himself towards the ground in order to save himself; he would land with the same velocity that he teleported with. He can subtract this inertia by teleporting short distances upwards (as though taking two steps back for every one forward). The limits to the mass that Morty can carry with him while teleporting, and the limits to the distance over which he can teleport himself with additional load is unknown. When he transports a passenger over even moderate distances, they both feel weakened and ill, to the point of exhaustion. Teleportation over further distances could be fatal to both parties. Morty can use his powers offensively by grappling with an enemy and teleporting him or her in a series of rapid jumps. The strain of these "multiple ports" can exhaust foes without superhuman endurance while Morty remains strong enough to continue fighting. He can also use teleportation to lift a foe and drop him, or to jump around the battlefield, making quick, unpredictable attacks before blinking away once again. He can also divert the teleporting of others by "jumping', homing in on their trajectory and tearing them out of the jump mid-port. This is an insanely dangerous and difficult tactic, which he can only perform thanks to his prescience. Paraphernalia Unlike some of the other Extras, Morty does not employ much equipment or gear when using his powers, but instead relies more on his powers and quick reflexes. That doesn't mean he didn't carry gear, though: *'Ear Plugs:' After Roxie turned on the team, Morty started carrying around ear plugs in case they should ever come across her or another sonic-screamer in the future. *'Flashlight:' This small penlight is carried in Morty's jacket pocket and used to illuminate a space. Oddly enough, he is the only one to carry a flashlight aside from Margot. *'Lighter:' This gold zippo lighter is emblazoned with the logo for Easy Company (a WWII marines outfit). The lighter once belonged to his grandfather, who gave it to him shortly before he passed away when Morty was young. The lighter is one of Morty's most treasured possessions. While he is no longer a smoker, he still carries the lighter on his person, even in costume. He tends to use the lighter whenever something needs to be set on fire. *'Switchblade:' This spring-loaded, retractable blade is usually kept in his pants pockets. He used this weapon a great deal in Season 1, but uses it less as the campaign goes on. He still tends to carry it for emergencies. Weaknesses Morty also has weaknesses that hinder him. *'Axiomite:' This extremely rare mineral, as revealed by the Justicar, can remove any extrahuman of their powers temporarily. If exposed to Axiomite, Morty would lose all access to his powers for 24 hours, and continued exposure could leave him nauseated and fatigued. *'Immature:' Morty can be very immature. While his pranks and sense of humor are usually appreciated by his friends and teammates, he can sometimes not know when to call it a day with the wise-cracks. *'Prescience Disruption:' Morty's prescience can lose its effectiveness is blocked, usually through means of certain frequencies or psionic methods. *'Pride:' Morty is a very proud person and is very reluctant to accept help, let alone ask for it. He hates to think of himself as anybody's burden and the last thing he wants is to be pitied or viewed as a charity case. As such, he will go to great lengths to keep others from thinking anything like that, even to his own physical detriment. Notes *Morty's Play-By actor is Caleb Landry Jones. *Mortimer means "Dead Sea". *Early notes and drafts have Morty's middle name as "Zechariah". However, it has been clearly shown and stated to be "Zachary". Thus, Zachary is assumed to be his confirmed, in-cannon middle name. *Morty is named after a combination of two sources: Morty (a ghost gym leader from the Pokemon series) and Sean Cassidy, who is the X-Man "Banshee". This became an homage to the character, due to the actor portraying him (Caleb Landry Jones) having played Banshee in "X-Men: First Class". Trivia *Morty is, in fact, part of the reason the character received powers: he threw the party where everybody experienced the Flux. *Locker number was 511 (11th grade) and 610 (12th grade). *Morty was named after his grandfather. *Favorite movies are a tie between Team America: World Police and Fantastic Mr. Fox. *Favorite animal is the Beaver. *Can play the drums, bass guitar, saxophone, guitar and accordion. *Immune to the Unity. *In the alternate future, Morty is married to Miriam. *Morty was the first character to officially join the Extras. *Morty was the first teenage character to own a vehicle. *Favorite color is Teal. *Favorite television shows of all time are Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Wonder Showzen, IT Crowd and The Young Ones. *Favorite bands are Dead Kennedys, Anti-Flag, Radiohead, The Ramones, The Beatles, Bad Religion, The Misfits, Pink Floyd, The Clash, The Rapture, NOFX, Rise Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Bowie, Flight of the Conchords, Ween, Green Day, Tiny Tim and the Sex Pistols. *Inherited switchblade from his Grandmother *Inherited his teleportation abilities from his Great Uncle, Henry Barton. Category:Extrahuman Category:The Extras Category:Extras Category:Extras Season 1 Category:Extras Season 2 Category:Extras Season 3 Category:Immune to the Unity Category:Teleportation Category:Knives Category:Male Characters Category:Native of Earth-1 Category:Probably Manipulation Category:Chaotic Good Characters Category:Characters Who Lost Their Powers Category:Olympus Academy Students Category:Pinkman Family